
Gass SF .fQ^ 
Book 'lA 



BOARD OF FISH AND GAME COMMISSIONERS 

STATE OF CALIFORNIA, U. S. A. 

BULLETIN No. 1 



Pheasant Raising 



Arranged by 

CHAS. A. VOGELSANG 

Chief Deputy 




SACRAMENTO: 

\V. VV. SHANNON, : : : : SUPERINTENDENT STATE PRINTING 

1910 






'Ki 



PHE.A5ANT RAISING. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The State Fish aud Game Commissioners, realiziiii,' that ihci-e is a 
strong and iinsatistied demand by hotels, restaurants, and by ]n'ivate 
eitizen.s wlio do not hunt for wild game, and with a constantly increasing 
population, which renders it necessary to place greater restrictions (such 
as longer closed seasons and lessened bag limits) upon the amount of 
game that can be taken, believe that the situation could best lie met 
through the establishment of a game farm, where pheasants and other 
game birds could be raised and distributed throughout the State, to 
jieople who would agree to give them proper protection and attention, 
and would take up the work of propagation seriously. The raising of 
pheasants in captivity has been carried on for years in European coun- 
tries, and with considerable success in Eastern States. 

It is the intention of the Fish and Game Commissioners to reconunend 
at the forthcoming session of the legislature that pheasants raised in 
captivity can be sold in the markets. It would mean a new industry 
and would serve a double purpose. It would reduce the drain on wild 
game in the tield. and give the jirotit that formerly went to market 
hunters to citizens and taxpayers who engage in a legitimate business. 

At practically every session of the legislature for the past ten years 
some variety of game bird or animal has been added to the nousale list, 
leaving wild ducks, wild geese and rabbits the only game that can be 
sold in the markets. It is only a matter of a very short time until wild 
ducks are added to the nonsale list. 

The establishment of the game farm has been rendered possible by the 
hunting license law. which provides yearly a large revenue. Such a 
farm has been establishmed near Hayward. Alameda County, at a cost 
of approximately $10,000, which includes its equipment, houses, barn, 
water tank, pumping plant, pens, horse and wagon, necessary tools, and 
the original stock of birds. Our first year's work w^as performed under 
serious disadvantages. We raised, however, 1,200 pheasants. We 
expect to have 3.000 for liberation this year. All expenses in connection 
with this game farm are paid out of the hunting license fund, without 
taxing the general fund of the State one cent. 

As an aid to those who are desirous of embarking in such an enter- 
prise, we oft'er the following brief account of methods that liave been 
proven successful by this Commission and other experienced breeders. 

D. OF D. 

SEP 19 »910 



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Wo have quoted largely from Farmers' Bulletin No. 390 on "Pheasant 
Raising in the United States.*' issued April. 1910, by the United States 
Department of Agriculture, and prepared by Henry Oldys, Assistant 
United States Biological Survey. 

PENS. 

The location of the pens is a most important factor. Well drained, 
sandy or gravellj- land facing the south should be selected if possible, 
and the pens arranged to get all the sunshine possible during the wet 
months, as sunshine is one of the very best preventives of bird diseases. 
In hot locations the pen can be shaded when necessary. 

A good sized pen or run for one cock and four hens would be about 
ten feet wide by sixteen feet long and six feet high. The sides and top 
should be covered with one-inch mesh poultry netting, carefully fas- 
tened and sunk into the ground at least a foot, to keep out burrowing 
animals. It is well to have an entrance at both ends of the pen for 
convenience in gathering eggs. A shed should be built in the north end 
of the run. with the side facing the sun, open. This shed should be at 
least four feet Avide by six feet long and as high as the sides of the pen. 
A roost should he provided, the length of the shed and a foot and a half 
above the ground. The front of the shed imtst he left open or the birds 
will not enter ; the roof, rear and ends should be tight. When possible, 
it is well to enclose in the run small trees or shrubs for the birds to use 
as perches and for roosting; they will, besides, provide a shade during 
the hot summer months. Pheasants usuallj' refuse to roost under cover, 
consequently, roosts of some sort must be provided in the open. Where 
more than one pen is used, they should communicate with each other, 
either directly or through a covered alleyway. This greatly facilitates 
the moving of birds from pen to pen. 

It is absolutely essential that the pen be kept clean and free from lice 
at all times. The pheasant is a wild bird with greater vitality than 
domestic poultry, yet conditions and diseases that affect poultry l.)ut 
slightly are fatal to the hardier bird. It is, perhaps, safe to say that 
most failures in pheasant rearing are due to filth and lice. We can not 
emphasize this fact too strongly ; keep your pheasants in clean quarters 
and free from lice or you will lose them. 

Before the beginning of the mating season it is advisable to move the 
adult birds to a fresh, clean pen. The ground in the old pen should 
then be spread with unslaked lime, allowed to stand two or three weeks, 
and then spaded up and planted to some grain or vegetable crop. All 
woodwork about pens and sheds should be sprayed or Avashed several 
times during the year with a good wash made with unslaked lime and 
water, to which has been added carbolic acid in the proportion of six 



ounces of acid to the gallon of wash. No whitewashing should be done 
during the laying season, as the hens are so affected by the odor as to 
stop laying. 

HANDLING NEW BIRDS. 

When a shipment of pheasants is received, first of all consider that 
they will feel strange and timid ; therefore, must be quietly handled. 
Place the crate in the pen, with food and water near by. After arrang- 
ing it so that the birds can come out when they get ready, leave them 
and keep away from the pen, except when necessary to feed and water, 
as pheasants are easily scared when changed to new quarters. After a 
few days they will become accustomed to their new home and can be 
cared for without trouble. The same person should attend to the birds 
all the time if possible, and should always wear the same clothing Avhen 
among them, as they are sensitive to any change of appearance and 
become frightened very easily. Strangers always bother the birds, and 
dogs and cats should never be allowed near the runs. Handle the birds 
only when actually necessary and then only by grasping them over the 
wings and around the body. Never grasp them by the wings or legs as 
is commonly done with poultry. 

FEED FOR ADULT BIRDS. 

Those foods that contain the elements and properties of their natural 
food supply, and to which they have become accustomed through cen- 
turies of feeding in the wild state, are naturally best suited to the 
pheasant in captivity. Do not overfeed, as it is sure to induce disease. 
The pheasant is a small feeder, needing only about half as mucli food as 
the chicken. 

Variety in food is very important, as the pheasant in his wild state 
eats practically every edible suljstanee he finds. Adult birds require 
feeding morning and evening, no more food being given them than will 
be cleaned up. "We have found tlie best food to be a mixture made after 
the following formula : 

Broken ^^'Ileat (not scrtHMiinus ) 20ponuds 

Fine (grauuhited) cracked corn 1-5 pounds 

Oat groats 15 pounds 

Coarse beef scrap 10 pounds 

Millet seed 10 pounds 

Canary seed lOpounds 

Rape seed •!> pounds 

Hemp seed .5 pounds 

Fine chicken grit ."►pounds 

Fine granulated charcoal .3 pounds 

1<J(J pounds 

We should say at this point that none of the various poultry foods 
that we have tested has proven suitable for pheasants. The birds must 



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have plenty of green ground bone at all times and be given an abund- 
ance of green feed, such as cabbage, lettuce, swiss chard, fine cut lawn 
clippings, clover or alfalfa. They like lettuce best. Pheasants get 
unthrifty at once if deprived of the green stuff they need. Fresh water 
in abundance mnst always be handy. Scald all watering dishes every 
day, and keep drinking water in the shade or change it often; warm 
water favors the development of bacteria that cause disease. 

MATING SEASON. 

The mating season will of course vary with the locality, but, generally 
speaking, it begins in April and extends into August. In captivity the 
pheasant hen lays from forty to seventy-tive eggs. Nests are useless, as 
the hens will seldom use them, but drop their eggs on the ground any- 
where in the pen. 

The eggs should be gathered as soon as laid, or at least twice a day : 
otherwise the Ijirds (particularly the males) will eat them. A sure cure 
for the egg-eating habit is to blow some eggs and fill them with melted 
soap and place in the pens. Eggs should l)e set as soon as possible ; after 
they are fourteen days old they are unfit for hatching. 

After hens have stopped laying for the season they can often be 
encouraged to resume by moving them and the male to a new, clean pen. 
The '"lay" in the new pen sometimes exceeds that in the old one, and of 
course more than pays for the expense of extra pens. 

HATCHING. 

The pheasant hen in captivity is a poor mother; besides, it is more 
profitable to keep her laying. Wyandottes and Rhode Island reds make 
the best ' ' mothers ' ' for pheasant eggs and chicks, although any domestic 
hen will do. so long as she is a good ' ' setter. ' ' Turkey hens are splendid 
mothers, as they are very cpiet on the nest and careful with young birds. 
They seldom step on the chicks and are not so given to roaming as hen 
chickens are. The eggs must he set so that they will receive the benefit 
of ground moisture in a nest made after this plan : 

Dig a hole in tlic ground in a shady place and shape a nest in it with 
excelsior ; a handful of onion skins is a valuable addition, as they help 
to keep lice away. The nest should be enclosed with a box without a 
top and aliout twelve inches high to prevent the young birds from escap- 
ing as soon as they hatch. Before placing the hen on the eggs be sure 
that she is free from lice and disease, as lice are certain death to young 
birds and are tlie cause of most failures in raising pheasants. One 
insect feeding on top of a chick's head will kill the bird if not destroyed 
or removed. Dust the setting hen with some good lice powder at least 
three times during the hatching period (liut not within three days of 



hatching), and if at any time the vonng- birds sliow evidence of being 
infested with lice, such as drooping and refusing to eat, dust them with 
lice powder and grease under their necks and on top of tlieir heads with 
lard or olive oil. 

From fifteen to seventeen eggs make a good setting for a chicken hen, 
while a turkey hen will cover from twenty to twenty-five. The period 
of incubation varies from twenty-one to twenty-eight days, although well 
fertilized eggs usually hatch on the twenty-third day, and all about the 
same time. The hen should be undisturbed during the hatching time 







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and the young birds left in the nest until the youngest is a day old, as 
they need the "mother's" warmth for drying and strength-giving. 

A coop for the mother and her chicks sliould be ready as soon as tliey 
are taken from the hatching nest. A cut and description of a very satis- 
factory coop is given herewith. 

This coop (as shown) is three feet wide ])y six feet long and is twelve 
inches high, except in the hen's compartment, which is raised to twenty 
inches at the inner end. A space two feet long should be partitioned 
off at one end for the hen and an eight-inch opening left. This opening 
should be covered with slats spaced so that the chicks have just enough 
room to pass from one compartment to the other. The hen's compart- 
ment should l)e made with a hinged cover — to facilitate feeding and 
handling — while the runway should he covered with one-inch mesh net- 
ting, set in a sliding frame. It is a good plan to set the coop on a 



— s — 

freshly cut grass plot and move it daily. The tender shoots of new 
grass form a wholesome part of the chicks ' food, and they are very fond 
of it, besides which, there is daily provided a supply of insect life. 

After the chicks are four days old and know the call of their foster 
mother, they may be allowed to leave the coop after the morning dew has 
disappeared, and forage for themselves. Many breeders even allow the 
hen and her brood their freedom until the young birds show a disposi- 
tion to fly out of the enclosure, when they transfer them to covered pens. 
Young birds cared for in this manner -will be hardier and freer from 
lice and disease than those confined in coops. 

THE FEEDING OF PHEASANT CHICKS. 

It is important that the hen and her brood be fed separately. The 
young birds should not be fed at all until they are twenty-four hours 
old, as they come from the shell sufficiently well nourished to maintain 
their strength for that length of time, but they should have clean sand 
or fine gravel to pick at from the first. By the second day they will 
begin to get hungry and need feeding every two hours. After they are 
five days old, let the feedings be gradually reduced, until, at the expira- 
tion of three weeks, the birds are being fed but three times a day. 

As soon as the young birds are ready to eat, they should be fed on a 
milk curd made as follows : Heat one cpart of sweet milk to the boiling 
point, stir in ten eggs (well beaten) and then cook until the curd is well 
done. Strain off the watery fluid and you have a crumbly food that 
contains nearly all the elements essential to young pheasant life. A 
mixture of milk, eggs, and oat or corn meal in proportions to make a dry 
crumbly mixture is also a flne food. Boiled potatoes, mashed and mixed 
with finely chopped hard boiled eggs, corn meal, and bran — with or 
without finely chopped scraps of meat— provides a food that the young 
birds like. Still another suitable food is a mash of corn grits, Avheat 
middlings, bone meal, beef scraps, and milk, made rather dry. In mak- 
ing curd, make only enough to last one day, as it spoils quickly and sour 
food is death to the birds. 

Maggots are the very best animal food for young plieasants. They 
are easily procured and the chicks may eat as many as they desire 
with perfect safety. But maggots should not be given to the birds until 
they have lain in bran long enough to clean themselves. ^Maggots when 
taken direct from meat seem to be poisonous and are a dangerous food. 
Maggots may be procured in various ways, but we will describe but tw^o 
plans, both of which have been used by us. Take crushed green bone 
and finely chopped meat and place out doors until the mixture is well 
covered with fly eggs. Then fill a box or pan half full of bran, over 
which spread thin scraps of liver or meat for food for the maggots, and 



— 9 — 

spread the liyblown green bone and meat on top. Another good method 
is to hang a beef or sheep head until the maggots get big enough to drop 
out. Then place a box of bran underneath and allow the maggots to kiy 
in the bran a day or so before giving them to the birds. 

Lettuce is a splendid food for young birds, and they should have it 
all the time. Fasten a head to the ground with a sharp stick and the 
birds will pick it off as they want it. Leave no remnants of food around 
the pens to become stale, and keep everything as clean and dry as pos- 
sible. Dampness causes colds and gapes. Have plenty of fine grit and 
sand in readi at all times, and it is Avell to keep a pan with such food as 
is fed to the adult birds in the coop so that the youngsters may learn to 
eat it. 

For watering the young birds, it is l)est to use the fountain jars that 
can be bought of any poultry supply house. The quart size is the best. 
Their drinking Avater 7nnst always he fresh and the fountain jars (and 
food pans) should be cleaned and scalded every day. 

Usually the birds can be moved to the large runs by the time they are 
two or three weeks old. Don't put them with old birds. By the time 
they are five weeks old they may be fed anything they would find in the 
wild state. Young birds (as well as old) must always have dust or 
ashes to "dust" themselves in. This is their way of taking a bath and 
freeing themselves from insects. 



DI5LA5LS OF PHLA5ANT5. 

By George Byron Morse, M.D., V.S. 

In charge of investigations of diseases of birds and cold-blooded animals, U. S. Bureau 

of Animal Industry. 

DISEASES AFFECTING YOUNG PHEASANTS. 

Pasting.- — Pasting occurs usually during the first week of life. The 
chick loses its vivacity, sits with eyes closed and its downy coat fluffed 
until it appears like a ball. Examination reveals the vent plugged or 
covered by a whitish, chalky, or pasty substance. This stoppage of the 
vent frequently leads to death in a day or two as the result of the absorp- 
tion of putrefactive poisons due to retention of the feces. Treatment 
consists in the immediate gentle removal of this chalky plug and the 
application of a few drops of sweet oil or a bit of petrolatum. 

Diarrhea. — AVhitish diarrhea may be caused in yevy young chicks by 
cold, by overheating, b}^ overfeeding, or by too little or too mucli water. 
The observant fancier will come to recognize these conditions almost 
instinctively, and will relieve them by at once altering the regime. This 
should be all that is necessary. If more is required it is evidence that 



— 10 — 

either tlie ease has been permitted to run so long that the chick is too 
weak to recuperate or infection is operating. 

WJiite diarrhea of chicks, so dreaded by the poultryman, is an atfec- 
tion of pheasant chicks as well. The diarrhea is merely a symptom of a 
severe infection of the intestines, especially of the blind pouches or ceca, 
by a low form of animal life, known as Coccidium teneUum, and Ave 
therefore speak of the disease, as an intestinal coccidiosis. The white 
coloration of the fecal discharge, as in the two previous diseases, is due 
to excretions from the kidneys. In certain virulent forms of tlie disease 
the minute blood vessels on the inner portion of the intestinal Avail burst, 
and the bleeding giA^es rise to a dark broAvn or CA'en blackish coloration, 
which obscures the Avhite effect of the uric acid. 

Treatment should begin Avith the administration of Epsom salts, mix- 
ing them in a mash and estimating from eight to fifteen chicks to one 
teaspoonful of the salts, according to age, size, and previous thriftiness. 
The drinking AA^ater should contain sulphate of iron (copperas^ in the 
proportion of ten grains of the copperas to one gallon of Avater or enough 
permanganate of potash may be added to the drinking Avater to give the 
Avater a claret-red color. The coops, feeding utensils, drinking vessels, 
and runs should be disinfected. As a prcA'entive measure, incubators 
and brooders should be cleansed and disinfected, and, prior to incuba- 
tion, whether natural or artificial, the eggs should be dipped in ninety- 
five per cent alcohol or in a four per cent solution of some good coal-tar 
disinfectant. 

DISEASES AFFECTING MAINLY ADULT PHEASANTS. 

Roup. — Certain affections knoAvn as contagious catarrh, diphtheria, 
and roup, if, indeed, they be distinct diseases, generally group them- 
selves in the fancier's mind under the one name, roup. The term diph- 
theria should not be used, because it belongs properly to that disease in 
the human family Avhich is caused by a special bacillus AA^hieh does not 
cause disease in birds. The other tAA^o names may represent tAVO different 
stages of the same disease, a contagious inflammation of the mucous mem- 
])ranes of the eyes, nose, mouth, throat, gullet, or Avindpipe, which may 
express itself by a Avatery, sticky, bad-smelling secretion, or by the devel- 
opment of yelloAvish patches. 

In the treatment of these affections the first thing is to recognize the 
contagiousness and to isolate the sick birds. Disinfect the houses and 
grounds. Make a mixture of peroxide of hydrogen and boiled water, 
equal parts ; into this plunge the head of the aft'ected bird. By means 
of a slender Avire covered Avith a little absorbent cotton and dipped in 
this mixture clean out of the eye or scrape oft' the tongue and sides of 
the mouth all yelloA\ ish matter and apply a four per cent solution of 
borax or boracic acid or the peroxide solution named aboAT. Give all 



— 11 — 

birds, sick aud well, a dose of Epsom salts. Keep iron sulphate or per- 
manganate of potash in the drinking water. 

Enteritis.— Enteritis, as used in bird medicine, means inflammation of 
the intestines. While it may originate from cold, improper f eedmg. and 
the like, it is usually an infectious disease and calls for prompt cleansing 
of the digestive tract, which is best accomplished by Epsom salts or a tea"^ 
spoonful of castor oil containing about fifteen drops of turpentine. Add 
iron sulphate or permanganate of potash to the water; isolate the 
affected birds. Disinfect thoroughly the houses, utensils, and grounds, 
and sprinkle lime everywhere. The causes may be coccidia. such as we 
find in white diarrhea of chicks ; flagellates, as in the canker of pigeons ; 
or bacteria, as in Klein 's infectious enteritis. 

CJiolera.— Cholera would really come under the third class just men- 
tioned. The organism causing it is frequently so virulent that death 
comes within a few hours, even before the diarrhea symptoms have had 
time to manifest themselves. The treatment would be practically that 
outlined under enteritis, although treatment is usually of no avail." Kill 
the very sick and treat only the apparently healthy, thus anticipating 
and preventing the disease. Necessary in aU the other diseases, it is of 
supreme importance in cholera to burn quickly all dead birds, after 
saturating them with coal oil. Burying deep and covering with lime 
may have to do, but it is not so good a method. In killing the sick birds 
do not use the ax, and thus spatter everything with the infective blood. 
Scurfy legs.— The affection known as scurfy legs, scaly legs, scabies, 
or mange of the legs and feet is caused by a parasitic mite, Sarcoptes 
mutans, which burrows under the scales and by its presence sets up an 
irritation which causes a rapid increase in production of cells, together 
with a secretion resulting in a gradual thickening and elevation of the 
scales. Being a parasitic disease, scaly legs is transmissible from one 
bird to another and from infested houses, perches, nests, etc. Treatment 
must begin with isolation of the patient and the thorough application to 
the coops and fixtures of boiling soapy water, then kerosene, and finally 
a coat of five per cent carbolic acid, to which has been added enough 
lime to make a whitewash. The affected bird should have its legs soaked 
in warm soapsuds, this part of the treatment being completed by a good 
scrubbing with a small hand scrub. This alone has cured the disease. 
However, it is best to follow this with a good rubbing of sulphur oint- 
ment (one part flowers of sulphur to nine parts of lard, sweet oil, or 
vaseline). 

GENERAL REMARKS. 
Pheasants can be hatched in incubators and raised in brooders, but 
unless one has had much experience along those lines, it is best to resort 
to the domestic hen. 



— 1'-^ — 

There are numerous other methods of raising pheasants, but from the 
success had with this one, we recommend it as particularly satisfactory. 

The best plan is to always follow nature as closely as possible and 
heware of filth and lice. For any information that you may desire 
which is not contained in this booklet, w^rite to the "Superintendent of 
the State Game Farm, Hay^vard, Cal.," and he will give you such sug- 
gestions as you may need to make a success of raising pheasants. Any 
one going into the business extensively should have special instructions 
and must provide a different equipment. 



IMPORTANT. 

HOW TO LIBERATE GAME BIRDS. 

If game birds are taken from the crates and left to fly, in their fright 
and desire to get away as far as possible from the crate, they will con- 
tinue until exhausted. Such a flight will land them outside the lands 
they are intended for and will scatter them so badly that the pairs may 
never be reunited. If this is not the case, the exhausted birds will fall 
easy prey to predatory birds and animals. 

To prevent this it is best to take the crate to some suitable location— in 
or near thick brush and with water at hand — and scatter plenty of feed 
about. Now quietly open the doors and go away from the crate, allow- 
ing the birds to leave in their own w^ay — undisturbed by any one. If 
liberated in this manner, the game almost invariably will make its home 
close to the spot where it found its first food. 

Birds should be liberated during the daytime so that they may get 
together, if scattered, and select a safe roosting place before night comes 
on. "Where it is possible to do so, splendid results will be obtained by 
opening the crates in some old barn or ranch building and keeping the 
birds penned up for several days before allowing them their full liberty. 

If the birds are fed and watered and left to themselves, they will 
recover from the effects of close confinement and traveling, and be in 
such condition that predatory hawks and "varmints" will do them no 
harm. When ready to liberate them, open a door and allow the birds to 
come out in their own way and time. 

Game birds should not be liberated where their natural enemias are 
numerous. By trapping, poisoning, and other means, endeavor to kill 
oft' all predatory animals and such birds of prey as the great horned owl, 
sharp-shinned hawk. Cooper's hawk, duck hawk, butcher bird, and blue 
jay, before turning out any birds. 



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